The Disk Station can do so much more than just act as a file dump for your network. With the USB ports you can hook up a printer and designate the NAS as your printer server. So if you're currently using a PC to share a printer, then you know the hassles of making sure that PC is powered on any time you want to print. The FTP service lets you access your files via the internet File Transfer Protocol in a secure manner. Backup Server features let you make backups of your desktops. With the increased growth of home theater PC's, the Multimedia server as well as the iTunes Server will put all of your multimedia within easy reach! With a Disk Station integrated into your home network,  you can have all of your files ready to be used on each PC, laptop, or Media Extender on your network. 

     Regardless of which Disk Station you choose, after you get the package open you'll have a small chore of assembling the unit and then setting it up on the LAN. Here's what you can expect to see. The Disk Station NAS unit itself accompanied by; an external power adapter, an RJ-45 CAT-5e LAN cord, some installation hardware (SATA data and power cables, and some hard drive screws), and of course some support manuals with an installation disc. No, hard drives are NOT included with the Disk Station. Sinology maintains a list of hard drives which have been officially tested and found 100% compatible with their NAS units. That list can be found here.

      For purposes of this test/review, I decided to try a pair of hard drives which are not on the compatibility list. This could closely simulate the worst case in a buying strategy; buying the Disk Station NAS and then just buying  a pair of your favorite SATA hard drives, not knowing if they are on The List or not. The instruction manual that accompanies the Disk Stations have a step by step process that will help you get your NAS up and running.

     The first step is to prepare the hard drives by connecting the SATA power and data cables. So with our hard drives ready, it's time to go inside......